Be it for, being too exaggerated, too ridiculous, too unrealistic.. what ever the reason...

Which MacGyverism do you consider to be the worst?


The one that springs immediately to my mind is the ridiculous Rosary beads in "The Road not Taken" episode.

MacGyver takes a chain of Rosary beads, lays them on a log in a swelled pattern and suddenly they all focus a beam of light in the same spot.

It's not even physically possible to get beads to do that! Let alone the issues of how he magically had the beam lined up before it even started.

For a show which was based on scientific principle, that was pure science fiction.

You beat me to it, Rocky! The rosary beads are the worst!

I think my second-least-favorite MacGyverism is in 'The Odd Triple' There is no way that a few tanks of CO2 could budge a wine vat of that capacity, let alone propel it with enough force to go through a brick wall! I shake my head every time I see that!

Still... it's a good episode. I love to see Mac and Jack and Pete working together!

The two that come to mind immediately are both from the Bad Laser Dept. -- the rosary beads in "The Road Not Taken", and the "optical pump" in "Legend of the Holy Rose".

The "Holy Rose" was certainly one of the stupidest, ugliest and most implausible props ever seen on TV (although the Black Corsage necklace is down there, too). And it's a pretty lame episode, and I want to strangle Zoe. But I love the scene where Mac gets wildly geeky when he figures out what the setup with the artifacts is supposed to do. The sheer charm of that one scene scores big for me.

So on consideration, I'm rewarding the lead statuette to the rosary beads. It's a much better episode -- Mac and Pete together are always great! -- but it's a lame MacGyverism and a weak scene.

Another Dishonourable Mention should go to the waterjet escape in "The Stringer". Should go -- but doesn't. It's cheesy, it's corny, it's implausible, and it looks unrealistic as hell on film -- but it was the last episode . . . and for the last great MacGyverism of the entire series, they found a way to make Mac fly. And I love it.

Actually the Holy rose episode might well have crap-fest # 3 as well....

That stupid escape from the swinging meat dicer... kick your shoe.. knock the head into the water container and let the loose hair block the hole.

you know that one might be #2... at least the optical pump had a hint of science behind the idea.

The whole Pit and the Pendulum scene was cringe-inducing, but at least there was a modicum of reality behind the hair clogging the drain; at least as much as there was to the medieval laser!

And I definitely agree that the rosary-bead laser was just plain science fiction -- entirely attributable to the Power of the Script.

Definitely the pressure washer escape from The Stringer. They seemed to jet pack out of the hold with a single stream of water. The pressure wouldn't be enough and they would of shot up wildly into the walls with no control. Sam even said 'the door's locked.' Your dad is MacGyver and you say a locked door is a hindrance.

I vote for the water jet escape in 'The Stringer', too.

But the entire Holy Rose thing is way up there.

My vote goes to the coffin/jetski. that one was just plain terrible!!

I would say both moments from Holy Rose, especially the escape from the swinging ax, which is way too dependent on sheer luck to be believable. Also, the plugging-the-acid-leak-with-chocolate scene in the Pilot. Yes, the principle is correct (sugar will stop sulfuric acid) but it would take about 40 POUNDS of chocolate candy to do it! Definitely out there.

Definately the PILOT episode about the chocolates, I knew from the very first second I wouldn't ever try that.
And the rosary beads, looks like I ain't the only one to dislike that one.
My first thought was ''That wont ever work for me''

I wonder who came up with that idea...

But the chocolate actually works. It's been confirmed on Mythbusters as well as by RDA himself.

It's only the amount of chocolate used that was exaggerated.

Sorry bad my bad for not adding that, that's what I meant, few small bars doesnt save he world!

As bad as all the MacGyverisms are that you all listed (and yes, I do agree that they're bad), at least they were somewhat clever/entertaining (even if just in a "I can't belief how silly this is" kind of way.)
The ones that bothered me were the half-assed ones like using dumbells as wheels to move the stage in "The Madonna." I mean, that was the ONLY MacGyverism in the entire episode, and it was something that anybody with a semi-functioning brain could figure out. It hardly represents the brilliant mind that Mac is supposed to have.

I'd say my least favorite MacGyverism is the water jet pack escape from "The Stringer".

LOL! I always just chalked it all up to being 80's television. The pendulum scene in Holy Rose always kinda got to me because I remember that episode as a kid when it was first aired. I remember having to wait for the following week and how it was a big deal for my Mom, sister and I as we got all excited to see how he got out of it. lol As a kid, it didn't bother me because I remember it was pretty tense. However, now that I've gone back and watched it an adult, I kinda chuckle inside. It's very silly and unrealistic... but I still love it because it's nostalgia. XD

What are the odds, huh? There was not much he could do, on the other hand. Nothing to grab nearby and he only had a minute. In Saw V they used a pendulum torture once as well, of course with no escape. There's no escape from a thing like that, if it only takes a minute to cut you in half unless you can break or dislocate your thumbs and try to free yourself from the shackles.

Silly and unrealistic indeed but I think the main idea was to have a grand scale cliffhanger and that's what we got.